Free roof inspection with deck photos before we talk money - GAF and Owens Corning certified installation
Fast, Reliable Roof Replacement Across Palo Alto
Most full roof replacements in Palo Alto run between $18,000 and $45,000 depending on the roofing system, the deck condition, and whether the home falls inside a historic review district. That’s a wide band because Palo Alto housing stock swings from 1905 Craftsman bungalows in Professorville to 1950s Eichlers in Green Gables with flat decks and exposed ceilings, and each one demands a different material, different tear-off approach, and different permitting path. We’re Tilehurst Roofing, a Kingswell family company founded in 2000, and we’ve worked through enough Palo Alto re-roofs to know the two things most out-of-area bids get wrong: the city’s municipal utility requirements around solar arrays, and the Architectural Review Board process for older neighborhoods. Call (945) 303-9821 and we’ll give you a written line-item price before any work starts, not a ballpark that shifts at the door.
Why Tilehurst Roofing Is Palo Alto’s Preferred Roof Replacement Company
Homeowners in Palo Alto call us because the crew shows up in the window we promised and the price we quoted is the price on the final invoice. That’s the whole arrangement. We serve this city with background-checked, uniformed technicians who know the difference between a 1920s Colonial Revival roof in Old Palo Alto and a modified-bitumen membrane over an Eichler ceiling, because we’ve torn both off. The Kingswell Guarantee behind every job means a written guarantee is in your hands before the crew leaves, and if the repair or replacement fails inside the guarantee period, we return at no charge under the 365-Day Done Right Promise. When you call (945) 303-9821, a live person answers. Not a queue, not a voicemail box, even at 9:00 p.m. on a Sunday.
The local knowledge matters more in Palo Alto than almost anywhere else on the Peninsula. We know which ARB submittal packets stall on incomplete drawings, which Eichler roof decks need a full membrane replacement instead of a patch, and how to coordinate with Palo Alto Utilities for solar disconnect so your array isn’t off the roof for three weeks. That’s not something a crew rolling up from a neighboring city learns on the first job. We learned it on ours, and we put it in writing.
New Roof Installation in Palo Alto
A new roof installation in Palo Alto means a full tear-off down to the deck, replaced underlayment, new drip edge, new flashing at every penetration, and a roofing system sized for this city’s specific wet season. For most pitched homes in Palo Alto, architectural asphalt shingles from GAF, CertainTeed, or Owens Corning run $18,000 to $32,000 including tear-off, deck repair where needed, and all permitting. On flat or low-slope Eichler roofs where the deck is the living room ceiling, new membrane systems typically run $24,000 to $45,000 because there’s no attic to hide a mistake. We recommend replacing rather than patching when the roof has crossed 20 years, when you’re seeing granules in the gutters after every rain, or when a ceiling stain in a Palo Alto Eichler tells you the membrane has already failed.
Tear-Off vs. Re-Cover
Most Palo Alto homes deserve a full tear-off, not a second layer over the old shingles. Re-covering hides deck problems, adds weight, and shortens the new roof’s life. A tear-off lets us inspect the decking board by board before we lay the new underlayment, so you’re not paying for a clean surface over rotting plywood.
Materials That Fit the Neighborhood
We quote material options from seven manufacturers: GAF, CertainTeed, Owens Corning, IKO, Atlas, Tamko, and Boral. You choose based on what fits the home. On a Professorville bungalow, that might be a Boral or Atlas architectural profile in a tone the Architectural Review Board has approved before. On a ranch-style home in Palo Verde, a GAF Timberline in a standard color is the practical choice.
Reroofing in Palo Alto
Reroofing in Palo Alto means removing the existing roof system and replacing it with new material over the existing deck, and it’s the most common full-replacement job we do in this city. For a typical single-story ranch in the south side of Palo Alto, a complete reroof runs $16,000 to $28,000. For a two-story Colonial Revival near the Old Palo Alto border, expect $22,000 to $38,000 because of height, safety equipment, and disposal costs. Reroofing is the right call when the roof is leaking, when the shingles are curling at the edges, or when your roof is already in an ARB-reviewed neighborhood and changing materials would trigger heavier scrutiny than a straightforward replacement in kind.
The Written-Price Workflow
Every reroof starts with measurements, a deck inspection, and a written price. That price covers tear-off, dump fees, underlayment, materials, flashing replacement, and the permit. If we open the deck and find rot, the change order is a separate line item you approve in writing before we touch it. You’re never surprised at the end.
Coordinating Around the ARB
If your reroof is inside the Professorville Historic District, roughly Addison, Cowper, Hamilton, and Ramona, the city can pull your permit into Architectural Review Board review. We file the submittal packet formatted the way the board expects to see it: material samples, color specs, profile drawings, and photographs of the existing roof. Approval typically adds two to six weeks. We schedule the tear-off only after the approval is stamped, so your home is never sitting with exposed decking waiting on a committee.
Trusted Brands We Service in Palo Alto
We install and service roofs from GAF, CertainTeed, Owens Corning, IKO, Atlas, Tamko, and Boral, which means you get the product that fits your home, not whatever the crew happened to have stocked on the truck. For Palo Alto customers we keep a local stock of common profiles and colors from Atlas and GAF, so a material shortage on a mid-job repair doesn’t stall your installation. Our Roof Replacement team installs to each manufacturer’s specification, which keeps the material warranty valid, and we stand behind the workmanship with our own written guarantee.
Common Roof Replacement Problems We See in Palo Alto Homes
- Failed flat roofs on Eichlers and Green Gables homes. The roof deck is the ceiling you look up at from the living room. When the membrane fails, the first sign is a coffee-colored stain indoors, not a drip in the attic. By the time you see the stain, the deck is often already wet.
- Moss and algae on north-facing slopes near Old Palo Alto. The marine layer keeps those slopes damp through the dry season. On older composition shingles, moss lifts the edges and shortens the roof’s life by years. We strip it, treat the deck, and recommend algae-resistant shingles on those exposures.
- Improper solar array removal during re-roofing. Palo Alto has its own municipal utility, and the solar disconnect process is different from PG&E territory. Out-of-area roofers who don’t know the CPAU workflow can stall a job mid-tear-off and leave the home open to weather.
- Historic-review rejections after materials are already ordered. In the Professorville Historic District, an Architectural Review Board that doesn’t like the shingle color or profile will send the submittal back. We file before ordering, so rejected materials aren’t sitting on a pallet in your driveway.
Pricing for Roof Replacement in Palo Alto, CA
Here’s what we see in Palo Alto right now. For a standard architectural-shingle re-roof on a 2,000-square-foot pitched home: $18,000 to $28,000. For a flat-roof membrane replacement on an Eichler: $24,000 to $45,000. For a full tear-off with decking replacement on an older pre-1940 home: $30,000 to $50,000 depending on how much decking needs to come out. What moves the number is deck rot, the number of penetrations (skylights, vents, solar mounts), disposal distance, and whether the home sits in an ARB district. Call (945) 303-9821, and we’ll send a technician to measure and hand you a written line-item price. Not an estimate you have to decode.
We Also Serve Cities Near Palo Alto
Calling from just outside the city line? We serve Stanford, Menlo Park, Atherton, and Los Altos with the same written-price process and the same warranty terms. Learn more about Roof Replacement in Palo Alto or call (945) 303-9821 to schedule a free estimate wherever you are on the Peninsula.
Serving Palo Alto, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Palo Alto area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Roof Replacement in Palo Alto
Only if the home sits inside a designated historic district, which for practical purposes is the Professorville area roughly bounded by Addison, Cowper, Hamilton, and Ramona, plus a few individual landmarked properties elsewhere in the city. Outside those zones, a standard roof replacement with the same material profile is a routine permit. Inside them, the city can send your shingle color, material, and profile to the ARB for review, which adds two to six weeks. We format the submittal packet so the board sees exactly what it expects, and we order materials only after the approval comes back. Call (945) 303-9821 and we’ll tell you whether your address triggers review before you sign anything.
Palo Alto runs its own municipal utility, Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU), so the solar array mounted on your roof for net metering is interconnected through city code, not PG&E’s process. When we tear off a roof with panels on it, the array has to be disconnected and removed before tear-off, then reinstalled and re-approved after the new roof is on. Roofers who quote standard re-roofs without that step leave you with a stalled job and a roof open longer than it should be. We schedule the CPAU window into the project plan before the tear-off date is locked. For a precise quote, call (945) 303-9821.
Eichler homes in Green Gables and other Palo Alto Eichler tracts have low-slope or flat roofs where the installed ceiling is the underside of the roof deck; there’s no attic cavity. That means the roof needs a membrane system (modified bitumen, TPO, or PVC) with proper flashing at every penetration, plus ice and water shield at valleys and edges, because any water that gets through the membrane shows up inside the house on the ceiling, not in an attic where you’d have time to catch it. A shingled roof is not appropriate on those decks. Call (945) 303-9821 and we’ll inspect your Eichler deck and quote the correct membrane, written out with a full scope of work.
Schedule it before the atmospheric river season hits, which in Palo Alto means May through September is the practical window. The city’s rain compresses into November through March, and deferred maintenance that sits invisibly through the dry season fails suddenly during that first big storm. If your roof is near or past 20 years, or you’re already seeing granule loss, curling shingles, or interior ceiling stains, don’t wait for water to pour through. We schedule tear-offs in dry weather and complete most Palo Alto re-roofs in five to ten working days. Call (945) 303-9821 to get a written price.
Put the bids side by side and check four things: scope line items (tear-off included, decking replacement specified), materials called out by manufacturer and product name, the solar array removal line if you have panels, and permit filing including any ARB review if you’re in a historic district. A bid that’s $5,000 cheaper and omits the CPAU solar coordination or calls for “standard shingle” without naming the product is not cheaper. Ours includes all four in writing before you sign. For a fair comparison, call (945) 303-9821 and we’ll walk your bid next to ours, line by line.
Written by Greg Holloway, owner at Tilehurst Roofing, serving Palo Alto and the surrounding Peninsula.






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